That was the Bears mantra for the season as running back Isaiah Crowell lead the team to a 13-3 record and a NFC North division title.

To say Crowell had a great season would be an understatement. The Crow lead the league with 2,351 yards and 25 touchdowns on 411 carries (5.72 YPC).

To put that in perspective, the rookie rushing record was previously held by Jonas Gray with 2037 yards with 20 touchdowns on 443 carries (4.59 YPC).
That a difference of over 300 yards, 5 touchdowns, and most importantly an entire yard per carry higher.

That's a nice record, but take it one level higher. Crowell has set the season records for most rushing yards and rushing TDs. The previous record holder was Jamaal Charles at 2150 yards on 476 carries (4.51 YPC).

Perhaps the most important stat to avoid for Coach Lynch was avoiding the all-time carries list. We are pleased to report that despite holding the All-Time rushing record, Crowell does not appear on the top 5 list of carries in a season.

It has been a genuine pleasure to watch this guy carry an inept QB to the #2 seed in the playoffs. He constantly faces 9-10 guys in the box and still manages to deliver.

The Chicago Bears, one of the charter teams of the NFL, steeped in proud tradition, underperformed to produce the worst record in their storied existence. There were a few close games and some flashes of potential, but at the end of the day, 1-15 is 1-15, and that is unacceptable for a professional football team.

There are many reasons for the horrendous record: lackluster playcalling, improper allocation of talent, a slow and aging receiving corps & defensive backfield, questionable offseason moves, an offensive line in transition, sticking with a defensive playbook that is indecisive in its scheme, and impatience in the run game.

Fortunately, the season is behind us, we can learn from our mistakes, capitalize on the few positives, adjust, and strive to perform to the quality that is expected of our team.

On the positive side, we have the first overall pick in the draft, as well as additional mid-level draft picks, and respectable cap space. Last year's first round draft pick, Tyrod Taylor, performed better than the pundits expected. The linbacking corps are solid and have depth. Both the offensive and defensive front lines have shown that they can play at a high level.

We'll be changing our defensive scheme to a more stable system that plays to our strengths. We'll use our resources in the offseason to get younger and faster. We'll draft according to talent, as opposed to need.

This season sucked for the Bears, but the future is open and we plan to be a part of it.

Ouch. Just frigin' ouch. Even the close games are disappointing (and this week's certainly wasn't). The offensive line (while good on paper) is porous as hell, with the constant push up the middle we can't even get a play established to even consider a run game; Clausen and Fajardo are panicked for their lives and just trying to get rid of the ball before their respective heads get knocked off; Clausen can make plays on occasion, but our veteran "elite" # 1 & 2 receivers seem to be afraid of the ball and are running crappy routes; HB Gray can run if he gets the time for a play to develop (he's one of our best receivers, that's the only way he can get positive yards); Our d-line will stuff play after play then give up double digit td runs; aside from Darryl Lloyd, the rest of the defense thinks it's flag football and a light slap will bring the ball carrier down; our defensive backfield will allow catches to anyone even with triple coverage...F#%$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry guys, just frustrated. New week next week and all...congrats in advance Washington...we'll give it our all, and who knows, maybe our high rated players will stop playing like they're in pee-wee league

Last season was the first time in 6 seasons that the Bears had a losing season. Granted, there was a mid-season change in the front office, but the collapse of the season shouldn't have happened, especially with the talent that was present. So what does the new GM do? He blows up the roster and tries to regroup with a team that matches his game philosophy. Whether or not that was a wise decision remains to be seen, but here's a rundown of the offseason under the new regime.

QB-Kind of a head scratcher here. McGloin was the face of the offense and was playing well in my system. Historically, however, he threw a lot of picks and we were offered a first rounder next season in addition to a solid QB that has played in our system before in Jimmy Clausen. For insurance, we got a great player to develop in Fajardo. Not the ideal arm strength, but his accuracy and intelligence makes him perfect for our team. Renfeld gives us the extra veteran comfort level.

HB-Sleepy Sindle has done great things for the Bears. Unfortunately, he had a history of coughing up the ball (this is why I got rid of Lomas Anderson when I was with Carolina, I was happy to see that it wasn't an issue with him anymore when I came to Chicago). In a perfect world, we would have gone after Gurley with our early first round pick, but after Cleveland moved up and announced their intention to draft him we had to have a plan B. We lucked out with Cyrus Gray. He's fast, can catch, can break tackles and protect the QB. Anderson did well in the #2 HB spot last season and we expect him to do the same this year. I stand behind my pick of Caz Palmer in last year's draft and am happy to have him back. Our rookie pick has good hands if we need him

FB- Arian Foster is the ideal FB for a coach that likes to change up his run schemes. Connor is a nice backup, which is why I used one of my resigns on him, They're a little long in the tooth, but they can get the job done.

WR-Speaking of players that are long in the tooth but are still elite, I love our receivers. Newly acquired FA Greg Childs and rookie Ted Haynes aren't the fastest guys out there, but their size and hands make them great slot receivers and lets Knox and Sanders stay fresh for their return duties.

TE-The Deuce pretty much built the TE roster as an expansion of the WR corps, which is great (we resigned Megatron), but with our run packages we need someone who can block as well, which is why we brought in a more rounded starting TE with Trent Wicks. He still has great hands, but can block as well.

OL-Didn't change much up here. The most notable acquisition was RG draft pick Ian Silberman. We were fortunate to have a draft that was heavy with talent at the position and were able to get a good player to groom later in the draft

DL-Nothing new on the outside because there was no reason to mess with what was good to begin with. The loss of Tommie Harris hurts, but we couldn't justify paying what he asked for at his age, regardless of how awesome he is. Harris did spend a good portion of last season injured and Jenkins and Tuitt stepped up admirably. We brought in Mike Martin to help out while Woolford works on his stopping skills

OLB-The Bears have always been known for their linebackers. We brought in Jermaine Cunningham because his phenomenal talent would be great for our weak side pass rush when we go into our 3-4 packages. Then the draft happened. We lucked out into getting one of the best athletes out there with Vic "Beast" Beasly. Now we're really deep with talent at OLB (especially with Culberson and Truman at strong side), which is fine with us. Having Darnell Reynolds as emergency is ridiculously fortunate, I just feel bad that he won't get the playing time that he deserves

MLB-We have Darrell Lloyd. He fits the mold of the Bear linebacker.We brought in Beauhamais &Reddick because they have more physical talent that what we previously had and can both develop in the jack position.

CB-Lotta controversy in trading away Gilmore. He is an undeniable talent who hasn't yet reached his prime. I try to look to the future though, so the combination of a late first round pick and elite CB Kenny Carson in return was hard to pass up. I have faith that Carson & Thomas will be a threat to any opposing passers. Not sure yet if Barnes or Carufel will be at nickle, but it's win-win either way.

FS/SS-No real need for change at FS. I went into the draft with every confidence in SS Juan Drake taking the reigns at SS, but still needed some depth at the position. Landon Collins was actually higher on our big board than Beasly was, but I was wary of taking a safety that early in the draft. Fortunately, the Lions helped us out with the decision and we were still able to get Beasly who we thought would have a bigger impact anyway. We were still able to get a serious upgrade with Jordan Richards.

K/P-Good as Gould and shoring up the punt game is a defeatist attitude

Overall, I'm happy with the team. I know that we have an uphill battle being in the same division with Omari and his back-to-back championships (friggin ched-heads), as well as the very real threat that Michael and Scott bring. Hopefully we'll perform well and at the end of the day have fun, which is what this league is all about

It's been a bit since a PFL game, but now I remember why I love this league. We lost, but it was a great game. There was no stopping Johnny Football, everything Manziel did was perfect. We gave it our all but the closest we came was 1 TD down. Props to BCreek, he coached a hell of a game. Looking forward to next week!

Jerry Richardson pulled the trigger and axed Peppy (Pete Pauletto) as the coach/manager of the Panthers after a dismal 0-6 start. Fortunately, Pauletto immediately found a new job as the new coach/gm of his favorite team: The Chicago Bears. Peppy released a statement to the press:

Peppy: Hey. Unfortunately, my efforts in Carolina didn't pan out. We built an incredibly talented team, but I was not able to properly guide them to success. I'd like to thank Jerry and all of the fans and staff from the Panthers for giving me the opportunity to represent your proud team.The next coach who has the privilege to lead the panthers has a wonderful team and fan base, I wish him all the luck and am frankly a little scared of playing against the fine players who are on the team.

On a more positive note, I'd like to thank the McKasky family for giving me the opportunity to lead the Bears. I grew up a Bears fan and I have followed their progress. I am inheriting a great team and I'd like to give props to Bill for building a good structure. We'll be following team president Ted Phillip's suggestion to vary our playbook structure and work to our players' strengths instead of forcing our team to adapt to my game philosophy, which was more then likely the cause of my issues in Carolina.

While I'm a little intrepid about the first-class teams that we will face twice a year in the NFC North, I hope to give the Chicago faithful fans a team that they can be proud of.

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Paydirt Football League is one of the most premier online Madden Leagues. We use madden 2008 for the PC with Text-mod to give use the most up to date version of Madden PC Gaming platform. Our game style is strictly coach-mode. We are the oldest Madden League in existence and will remain that way for years to come.